


With You

by tfloosh



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Angst, F/M, You Have Been Warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 07:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14806958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tfloosh/pseuds/tfloosh
Summary: It still hurt to think about Zelda. He had loved her, truly loved her, but there was no way it would work out. Even he could see that one of them would end up miserable if they stayed together and got married. Link just wasn’t made to stay cooped up in a castle, and Zelda could never leave her duties as Crown Princess.





	With You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Zelink Week 2017. I was inspired by the song With You from Ghost the Musical, and I highly recommend listening to the song if you want to cry.

It had been a month since Link had officially moved out of the castle, so Zelda didn’t know why she was doing this now. Picking up his leftover things as if she was a common maid. Not that there’s anything wrong with maids or their work. Zelda just didn’t really understand why _she_ was doing this. She could have simply asked any other maid to do all this for her, but then again, she really couldn’t.

The next day on her way into the stables for an afternoon ride, one of the stable hands, Reynolds if Zelda remembered correctly, asked her to say hello to Link the next time she saw him. She had to turn around and head back to the castle so the stable hand wouldn’t see her tears. It was ridiculous. She had a mutual agreement with Link that they would break off their courtship, and he would leave the castle and live his own life. A life without structure and walls. A life where he could be the adventurer he always was in his heart.

But, Zelda mused, that didn’t mean letting go was going to be easy. She had begun advoiding the places in the castle grounds and Castletown where they had taken evening strolls or sat and talked for hours. Her heart ached too much. And then it seemed as if echoes of Link were haunting the castle like ghosts. Try as she might, despite the discipline of her royal training, Zelda could never really keep her mind off Link for long periods of time. Her days were different; her nights were different. It was as if they were taken with Link when he left.

 

_You took my days with you, took my nights with you._

 

Link spent all his time traveling, visiting all those he had met before he was sent back in time to relive his childhood. He reconnected with Ruto, Darunia, even Saria briefly. But what was best was seeing Malon again. She was probably his best friend besides Zelda.

He paused in his thoughts. It still hurt to think about Zelda. He had loved her, truly loved her, but there was no way it would work out. Even he could see that one of them would end up miserable if they stayed together and got married. Link just wasn’t made to stay cooped up in a castle, and Zelda could never leave her duties as Crown Princess. Star-crossed lovers, Ruto had called them. Lovers unable to be with each other due to outstanding circumstances.

There were so many things Link felt were unfinished between him and Zelda, though. There were conversations they never got around to having, like the full story of what happened in Termina, or even his adventures through time with the Ocarina and awakening the Seven Sages. Some part of Link desired to finish these talks. He felt like a child having mental conversations with Zelda, and sometimes he even went far enough to write letters to her detailing his adventures, past and present. But he never sent them.

They had agreed that total cutoff was the best, and no matter how badly Link wished to pop back into the castle like he used to, he respected Zelda’s wishes. He couldn’t stay anyway. But it was hard, knowing his heart was broken, and it would just keep breaking every day. Everything he had hoped, everything he had dreamed all his life had involved Zelda, was now left with Zelda.

 

_You took my hopes with you, took my dreams with you._

 

Zelda stared out the window sometimes, thinking she might see a flash of a red mare, a hint of a green tunic. Her handmaidens doted on her, calling her lovesick. Impa briskly told her it was all in her head. But for some reason, in the back of her mind, Zelda couldn’t accept that it had ended just yet. She didn’t want to give in to reality. The pain was too much, the regret too big. She couldn’t live like this. Her life, her true life, the one filled with smiles and laughter and happiness and love, was with Link. But Link wasn’t there.

 

_You took my life with you,_

 

Link couldn’t keep pretending he didn’t care. He held in his pain around his friends, but he knew they all saw through him. Malon always gave him that look of hers that said she was concerned but wasn’t going to say anything out of respect for his pride. But he couldn’t quite comprehend not seeing Zelda every day, not holding her hand or walking around with her. He still caught himself looking around for Zelda when he found a new and amazing place on his travels or saw something he knew she would love or whenever someone said a joke that made him laugh. He wanted her here with him, to experience the world with him. His world, his whole world, the one with excitement and joy and true adventure and love, was with Zelda. But Zelda had left him alone.

 

_Took my world with you._


End file.
